Alan Alda: Be brave enough to live life creatively. The creative place where no one else has ever been.
Alan Alda: It's too bad I'm not as wonderful a person as people say I am, because the world could use a few people like that.
Alan Alda: Republicans are as capable of coming up with great ideas and moving this country along as anyone - they just don't do it.
Alan: Laugh at yourself, but don't ever aim your doubt at yourself. Be bold. When you embark for strange places, don't leave any of yourself safely on shore. Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory.
Alan: Originality is unexplored territory. You get there by carrying a canoe - you can't take a taxi.
Alan considered running for the United States Senate in 1995 for the state of New Jersey.
Alan started out his career as a member of the Compass Players comedy revue during the 1950s.
Alan spoke at the 108th commencement for Caltech in June of 2002.
Alan attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York.
Alan is 6 feet 2 inches tall.
Alan and Arlene Alda dedicated a Central Park bench (somewhere near an entrance on the lower West Side); the inscription on the bench's plaque bears their names.
Alan knew from the age of eight that he wanted to be a writer.
Alda is an active Democrat.
Alan and Loretta Swit were the only two M*A*S*H stars to appear in both the pilot and the finale.
Richard Hooker, the author of the book, M*A*S*H, did not like Alan's portrayal of Hawkeye Pierce on the series.
Alda and his wife, Arlene, have three daughters: Eve, Elizabeth, and Beatrice.
Alan's mother was a schizophrenic and once tried to stab his father in the face. Because his father owned a burlesque theatre, she was afraid of extra-marital affairs. The two went on to get divorced several months later.
He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Alda only took one acting class while attending Fordham University: "Theater Games."
Alda was said to have earned $200,000 each week for M*A*S*H for the last two years of the show.
Alda received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Aviator. However, Alda lost the Oscar to Morgan Freeman.
In 1956, Alda received a Bachelor of Science Degree at Fordham University.
Alda's directing debut began with the episode "Dear Sigmund" on M*A*S*H.
Alda's first Broadway performance was The Owl and the Pussycat.
Alda didn't become an official cast member of M*A*S*H until six hours before they began to film the very first episode, "The Pilot."
Alda drawled one of the worst Southern accents in cinematic history in the 1970 film The Moonshine War.
Earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Fordham University (New York City, USA) in 1956.
When he was a young boy, he suffered from polio. His treatments to battle the effects was intense massages and applications of near scalding hot towels.
He commuted from LA to his home in New Jersey every weekend for 11 years while starring in M*A*S*H (1972). His wife and daughters lived in NJ, and he did not want to uproot the family to LA, especially because he did not know how long the show would last.
When he and his wife, Arlene, first met, she was playing "Quintet for Clarinet and Strings" by Mozart on the clarinet. He ended up writing this piece into the final episode of M*A*S*H.
AWARDS Directors Guild of America Awards 1983 - Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Comedy Series for the "M*A*S*H" episode "Where There's a Will, There's a War". 1982 - Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Comedy Series for the "M*A*S*H" episode "The Life You Save". 1977 - Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Comedy Series for the "M*A*S*H" episode "Dear Sigmund". Emmy Awards 1982 - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for "M*A*S*H" 1979 - Outstanding Writing in a Comedy or Comedy-Variety or Music Series for the "M*A*S*H" episode "Inga" 1977 - Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series for the "M*A*S*H" episode "Dear Sigmund". 1974 - Actor of the Year-Series for "M*A*S*H" 1974 - Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for "M*A*S*H" Golden Globe Awards 1983 - Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical for "M*A*S*H" 1982 - Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical for "M*A*S*H" 1981 - Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical for "M*A*S*H" 1980 - Best TV Actor - Musical/Comedy for "M*A*S*H" 1976 - Best TV Actor - Musical/Comedy for "M*A*S*H" 1975 - Best TV Actor - Musical/Comedy for "M*A*S*H" Humanitas Prize 1980 - Thirty Minute Category for "M*A*S*H" National Board of Review Awards 1989 - Best Supporting Actor for "Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)" New York Film Critics Circle Awards 1989 - Best Supporting Actor for "Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)" People's Choice Awards 1982 - Favorite Male Television Performer 1981 - Favorite Male Television Performer 1980 - Favorite Male Television Performer 1979 - Favorite Male Television Performer 1975 - Favorite Male Television Performer Writers Guild of America Awards 2000 - Valentine Davies Award
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